Rani Mukerji stretches it

Rani (left) with Payal Gidwani at her daily morning yoga session

Mumbai: Wonder how Rani Mukerji got to shed all those kilos before stepping in front of the camera for her film Dil Bole Hadippa? Regular yoga sessions and a carefully manipulated weight training programme seem to have done the trick.

Sources say that it took Rani over a year to knock off about 10 kilos that was making her look a little bloated in front of the camera. Rani had hired a team of experts to get into her new slim avatar which included fitness instructor Satyajit Churasia and yoga teacher Payal Gidwani.

Satyajit Chaurasia is the celebrity trainer who was the brain and hands behind Aamir Khan's six-pack figure in Ghajini.

Says Satyajit, "Rani has been working out (with me) for a long time now. But it was in April last year that she decided to tone up and lose the flab. Thus, we devised a combination of cardio and weight training for Rani. She walks on the treadmill for 45 minutes and does weight training for 30 minutes for five days a week."

But that was not all, there were some rigorous sessions of workout as well. "Rani also did as many as 300 to 500 stomach crunches everyday. And the session would end with stretching exercises. Rani is a very diligent person. The progress might be slow but due to her extra care about her exercising regime, she lost a lot of inches around her waist."

As for Payal Gidwani, she has been previously famous for Kareena's controversial size zero look for the film Tashan.

She reveals, "When I initially started teaching yoga to Rani, it was tough. She had no stamina and there were problems with her nerves, so she would often get cramps. Thus, I conjured up a two hour regime for her that included 45 minutes of walking and one hour 15 minutes of yoga. Slowly, her body began to showresults and we stuck to our schedule. There was no need tointroduce power yoga as the desired results were visible. Rani now enjoys yoga a lot."

Workout regime:
Treadmill: 45 minutes
Weight training: 30 mins (5 days/week)
Stomach Crunches: 300-500
Walking: 45 minutes
Yoga: 75 minutes